Dustless plastification of ultramarine raw mix



C. S. WOLF ETAL" DUSTLESS PLASTIFIGATION OF ULTRAMARINE RAW MIX Filed Aprll 3, 1946 April 26, 1949.

INVENTORS' CLAN/TON' 5. WOL/f, W/L/fq/W` d. /f/PUPPA,

S gg ATTORN EY Patented Apr. 26, 1949 DUSTLESS PLASTIFICATION OF ULTRAMARINE RAW MIX AClayton S. Wolf, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Willam J. Kruppa, Somerville, N. J., assignors to American Cyanamid Company, New York, N. Y., a vcorporation of Maine Application April 3, 1946, ISerial No. 659,344

(Cl. B- 305) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved method of briquetting raw mix for the production of ultramarine.

A recent improvement in the .production of ultramarine involves the briquetting of ultramarine raw mix into briquets of uniform size and consistency and ring the mix in briquet form. This improved process is described and claimed in the copending application of Beardsley and Whiting, Serial No. 606,886, filed July 24, 1945 and now matured into Patent No. 2,441,950. In order to Aproduce briquets of satisfactory mechanical strength some binder is required if a roll press is used. The ultramarine raw mix usually contains two components which melt at `fairly low temperatures, namely, the sulfur which melts at about 120 C., and rosin or pitch, which melt at a temperature slightly lower. The molten sulfur and rosin act as a binder and briquets of satisfactory mechanical strength may be obtained if the raw mix in the briquetting process is heated up to a temperature causing the sulfur and rosin to melt. Certain ultramarine mixes contain charcoal as a reducing agent instead of rosin or pitch. In these mixes, of course, the melted sulfur is the only binding agent.

The heating of a loose powdery mix from which the briquets are made presents serious diiculty. If hot briquet presses are used or if the mass is preheated by heating the walls of the containing vessel, the results are not satisfactory unless excessively slow heating is used,because the penetra tion of heat is so low due to the insulating effect of the air spaces in the powder. Any attempt vto heat rapidly results in severe overheating in contact with the walls, and if stirring is employed the material cakes on the walls and on the arms or blades of the stirrer. This cake still further reduces the heat transfer. The caking which results from any attempts at rapid heating also interferes seriously with the discharge of the heated material into the briquet press.

It might be assumed that the 'problem of rapid heating of the raw mix could .be solved by using a heated gas passing through the mix as the heating agent. When this is attempted rapid heating results but the very finely .ground ultramarine mix causes a very serious dust problem, as large quantities are carried along by the stream of gas until the mass reaches a temperature at which the binders melt. Not only does the dusting require dust collectors, which adds to the expense of any plant, but the composition of the mix changes because the composition of the dust co1- lected is not the same as the original mix.

Internal gas heating, therefore, is not practical.

The present invention solves the problem. According to the present invention superheated steam is used as vthe heating gas. This permits a rapid heating with relatively small steam low. Also, the initial effect is to condense some of the steam in the form of water, which prevents dusting. It is true vthat the condensed water is eventually .evaporated by the steam and in a batch process there is a slight possibility of dusting between the temperature of C., at which the condensed water evaporates, and the melting of the constituents, which begins at C. However, this interval is so short and the heat capacity of steam is so high .that the amount of dusting which results in the extremely short time during which the initial wet material is at a temperature between 100 and 115 C. is small enough so that it does not render the operation impractical.

lThe .use of superheated steam eliminates dusting to a very large extent in any method, whether batch .or continuous. It is possible to eliminate .dusting completely in a continuous process, which constitutes the preferred embodiment of the presa ent invention, although the invention is not broadly limited to the details thereof. In this continuous process the ultramarine raw mix `is slowly moved through an yelongated chamber, for example, by a screw, and superheated steam is introduced countercurrent to the flow of mix. The cold mix as it enters encounters steam which has lost substantially all of its superheat. Condensation `therefore takes place, which performs two functions. First, the mix is dampened and therefore does not dust. Secondlyfto the extent to which the steam condenses a very rapid preheat-ing results because of the great latent heat of vaporization of water. The damp mix then moves along encountering steam having more and more vsuper heat. This results in a gradual evaporation of the water and in finally raising the mixto a temperature high enough to melt the sulfur and rosin. The Zone where the mix is at a temperature between 100 and 115 C. and at which point it might dust is located in the middle of a closed chamber. Therefore no dusting results, because if any dust is formed it is scrubbed out by the damp mix through which it passes. The net result is that the steam discharged from the end of the conveyor kcontains only the merest traces of solid particles.

It will be noted that the weight of steam leaving the vessel is the same as that fed in. It is only the superheat which has been used, although some of the steam condenses in the cold end, preventing dust, and resulting in very rapid preheating. This steam is re-evaporated by the superheat in the hotter zones. Accordingly, the higher the superheat the smaller the weight of steam required. The high superheat results not only in economy of steam but it reduces the mass velocity of the ilow through the system. High superheat is, therefore, desirable, and we prefer to use superheat of from 400 to 500 C. This is high enough to give good economy and not so high as to impose serious material limitations on the apparatus. At a temperature of 450 C. we have found that it takes approximately 400 lbs. of steam per ton of briquets.

The invention will be described in greater detail in conjunction with the drawing, Which is a vertical elevation partly in section through an apparatus in which the present process may be performed.

Suitably blended and ground raw mix which i may, for example, be in the proportion of 30.5 parts china clay, 5.3 parts diatomaceous earth, 27.8 parts soda ash, 33 parts of sulfur and 3.3 parts of rosin, is filled into a hopper I. From the hopper mix is fed by the motor driven feeder 2 at' slow speed into two cylindrical vessels 3 connected in series and provided with insulation I3 and conveyor screws I4 provided with suitable paddles which elect mixing as well as conveying.

Saturated steam is ied into a superheater l through a control Valve l and superheat is produced by the gas burner 8, the combustion gases passing off through a stack 9. The superheated steam passes through a pipe il into the mixers 3, the pipe being provided with perforations inside the lower mixer to eiect a more uniform dispersion of the superheated steam. The steam passes along the lower heater and out through the stack 4. In the upper heater it encounters cold ultramarine mix and some condensation takes place. As the mix moves forward in the lower mixer 3 it encounters steam' of progressively higher superheat, the condensed steam in the mixture is evaporated and the mix is brought up to a temperature of 120 C. or over, at which temperature the sulfur and rosin melt and a hot, dry, non-dusting, self-adhesive mix is discharged into a conventional revolving briquet press 5, the briquets being discharged onto a suitable con-sA veyor 6.

It will be noted that the raw mix from the hopper does not discharge into a portion of the mixing chambers where steam is ilowing. This sacrifices a certain amount of space of the mixing chamber but it is desirable because the condensation of saturated steam on the cold mix renders the latter suiciently sticky so -that diiculty is encountered with feeder 2 dueto sticking if steam is allowed to rise into it. For this reason the mix is discharged into a dry portion of the mixing chamber and is fed by the paddle conveyors to the point where it encounters the saturated steam.

The quantity of superheated steam required depends on its temperature and on the rate of production of hot briquet mix. With a tempera- 4 ture of 450 C. the ow of steam will be about 400 lbs. for each 2,000 lbs. of dry briquets.

We claim:

1. A method of heating cold, dry, highly particulate and dusty ultramarine raw mix without substantial evolution of dust, and thereby pro-l ducing a. hot, relatively dry, non-dusting ultramarine raw mix suitable for briquetting, which comprises: admitting a stream of highly superheated steam into said lcold raw mix controlling the temperature and flow of steam so that at least a portion of said steam condenses to form a wet zone in the ultamarine mix nearest the steam exit, whereby the dusting of said mix is prevented; and continuing the admission of said superheated steam until substantially all the water in said Wet zone has evaporated and at least one of the components of said mix has melted to an extent sui'licient to act as a briquet binder and dust inhibitor.

2. A .continuous method of heating cold, dry, highly particulate ultramarine raw mix Without substantial evolution of dust and thereby continuously producing a hot, relatively dry, nondusting ultra-marine raw mix suitable for briquetting, which comprises: continuously moving a stream of ultramarine raw mix countercurrent to a stream of highly superheated steam and in direct contact therewith; controlling the temperature and ow of said steam so that at least a portion thereof condenses to form a wet zone in said ultramarine raw mix nearest the steam exit, whereby the dusting of said mix is prevented; and continuously moving said wet zone countercurrent to the iiow of said steam into hotter zones and thereby evaporating said condensed steam from said wet zone and melting at least one of the components of said mix to an extent sufcient to act as briquet binder and dust inhibitor.

3. The method according to claim 2 in which the temperature of the highly superheated steam is between about 400 and 500 C.

CLAYTON S. WOLF. WILLIAM J. KRUPPA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 567,509 Reitz Sept. 8, 1896 705,787 Pratt July 29, 1902 1,339,771 Lowden May 1, 19201 1,371,546 Bollmann Mar.,15, 1921 1,416,960 Ladisch May 23, 1922;

1,420,679 BeckWorth June 27, 1922 2,360,257 Muller Oct. 10, 1944 2,374,425 Weerth Apr. 24, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,980 Great Britain May 1, 1916 44,483 Netherlands Oct. 16, 1938 OTHER REFERENCES Briquetting, Stillman, page 287. 

